


Tongue Tied

by wanderlustlights



Category: Glee
Genre: Complete, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-19 00:25:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlustlights/pseuds/wanderlustlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 4.04.  Kurt meets up with Dave at a coffee shop in New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tongue Tied

Kurt shrugs off his jacket, placing it on the back of the chair, and watches the excess rain drip from the bottom of it, making tiny splashes on the floor.  He knew he should have brought an umbrella with him today but then again, he was late enough as it was.

Dave grins at him from across the table as Kurt sits, smile falling as he takes in Kurt’s haggard appearance.  He’s wearing clothes that decidedly aren’t _him_ – dark, straight-legged jeans, a long-sleeved black Henley shirt, and beat-up black, chunky boots, all so far from his usual fashion choices.  His hair is in its usual coif but messed up so bad it looks like he’s been tugging at the strands or running his fingers through it constantly.  He’s wearing glasses which Dave didn’t even know he had and there are dark circles beneath his eyes like he hasn’t been sleeping. 

“Uh… hey,” Dave greets cautiously and Kurt offers him a tiny smile, which disappears just as quickly as it came.

“Hi,” says Kurt quietly and the tone of his voice makes Dave flinch.

“What happened?  Are you okay?”

Kurt stares off to the side for a moment, and Dave’s eyes follow his gaze to a couple sitting in the other side of the coffee shop, holding hands across the table, before his eyes meet Dave’s again.  “I’m fine.”

“Kurt… what happened?” Dave asks again.  He’s not about to let it go until Kurt lets him know what’s going on with him.

“It’s Blaine, he – he cheated on me.  I broke up with him.”

Dave stares, eyes flashing in anger.  “ _He did what_?” he asks lowly.

Kurt seems to curl into himself at the very thought of what Blaine did to him, and takes a shuddering breath.

“Kurt…”

“He said he was lonely because I’m here and he’s still there and he tried – he blamed it on me.  Like I’m the problem here, like I was the one who made him go off and do that.  And then he… it just happened somehow, some guy from Facebook, I guess.  I just – I don’t know what to do.”  He wipes away the tears quickly, face flushed in embarrassment.  “Sorry.  When you called earlier I was fine, I was okay, but then I got home from the store and it was raining and I look like death and I just – it happened weeks ago, I should be fine now but I’m just… I’m not.  I still feel like I’m going to die and I just… sorry.”

Dave gets up from his chair, rushing over to Kurt to pull him into a tight hug.  Kurt melts into the embrace, clutching Dave to him and crying against Dave’s chest heavily as Dave whispers reassurances to him.  He rubs Kurt’s back until, finally, his crying subsides and Kurt says he can go back to his own chair, face red.  Dave does, but pulls his chair closer to Kurt, sitting to the left of him instead of across from him like before.

“I’m sorry,” Kurt mumbles again, wiping the stray tears from his face with a hand.  “I got your shirt all wet.”

“It’s fine,” Dave says dismissively, softly.  “You’re fine.” 

“I guess I just – I haven’t really talked about it that much, or – or let myself dwell on it or anything.”

Dave doesn’t know what to say.  He doesn’t know what he _can_ say – nothing he can say will make it any better, will take away the pain Kurt’s feeling or help him to go back in time to stop Blaine from cheating in the first place.  But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it if he could.  “I could have been so good for you,” he says quietly. 

Kurt’s eyes are wide, like he can’t believe just said that; hell, Dave can’t even believe he said it.  “David…”

Dave’s silent for a moment before he looks back up, catching Kurt’s gaze.  “You know I never would’ve cheated on you, right?  I never would have hurt you like that, not if I could help it.”

Kurt feels his stomach clench at the words, tears stinging his eyes again.  “I know,” he whispers, the words hurting to say.  “I know you wouldn’t.”

“Can I just…” Dave’s words trail off and Kurt looks at him in slight confusion when Dave doesn’t finish.

“‘Can you just’ what?” says Kurt, intrigued.

“Nevermind,” Dave says, shaking it off but Kurt’s not about to let it go.  “It’s too soon, I know it is.”

“David.  Just say it.”

Dave’s cheeks are flushed a bright pink as he mumbles the words.  “I, uh - I was just… gonna ask of you wanted to go have dinner sometime.  With me,” he adds belatedly. 

“…Oh,” says Kurt and Dave doesn’t know if that’s a bad ‘oh’ or a surprised ‘oh.’  Either way it doesn’t sound promising.

“Like I said,” says Dave, standing and shrugging on his jacket, “nevermind.”

Kurt places a hand on Dave’s arm, stopping him from leaving just yet. 

“David, please, just – I don’t want you to be just a rebound or anything.  You said you don’t want to hurt me.  Well I don’t want to hurt you, either.  And I just think that… I need some time.  To get over him completely before I dive headfirst into the dating pool again.  And if I were to go into this too quickly, I feel like all that would happen is that one of us would wind up getting hurt.  And I don’t want that for either of us.  Do you… I mean, can you understand that?”

Dave nods, glancing down once at Kurt’s hand on his arm, then back up to meet Kurt’s gaze.  “I guess, yeah.”

“I really do like you, David.  I hope you know that.  I’m just… not ready yet.”

 _Yet._ Dave tries not to focus on that one word for too long, but it can mean so many things.  More than anything, though, it can mean that they might someday be able to have an actual relationship, where Kurt might love Dave the way Dave loves him.  “Right,” he says, and gives Kurt a reassuring smile that Kurt returns almost immediately. 

“Do you have somewhere to be or can you stay for a while?” Kurt asks and Dave shakes his head quickly. 

“No.  I can stay,” Dave says.  “Just… let me get some coffee first.”

Kurt smiles.  “Of course.”

Dave takes one step before stopping, turning back to Kurt and speaking softly.  “He’s an idiot, you know.  Really.”

All Kurt can do is stare.  He doesn’t know what to say.  The only thing he can seem to settle on is a timid “thank you, David.”

Dave turns away again, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets and making his way to the line to stand behind the others.

Kurt’s left watching him go, this boy who has come into himself so well in only the past few months, who quite obviously still has feelings for Kurt, and Kurt can’t say he isn’t at least starting to feeling something for him as well, though he might not know for certain what, exactly, that is as of yet.

He knows Blaine hurt him and maybe he’ll never be completely over that but he thinks, maybe with Dave by his side, he can.

_fin._


End file.
